The Press Box. BASEBALL.

Ticket Costs Soar Once Again

Sox Are 3rd Highest, Cubs 7th

NEW YORK — The cost of baseball tickets this year rose at twice the rate of inflation.

The average price of a major-league baseball ticket is $11.98 this season, a 7.1 percent increase.

The Boston Red Sox charge the most with a $17.69 average. The World Series champion New York Yankees are second in average ticket price at $16.27, an 11.6 percent rise.

The White Sox are the third highest at $16.12, followed by Baltimore at $15.66, Atlanta at $15.54, Toronto at $14.86 U.S. and the Cubs at $14.63.

St. Louis, which won the NL Central last season, had the highest raise this year, 24.7 percent to $12.36, according to a study released by the Team Marketing Report.

Montreal, which lowered prices by an average of 24.9 percent this year, has the lowest average price, the equivalent of $6.81 in U.S. currency.

Baseball's average ticket price has risen 38.7 percent since 1991, when it was $8.64. Since then, the average price of an NFL ticket has gone up 41.8 percent, from $25.21 to $35.74. The average price of NBA tickets has risen 46.6 percent, from $23.24 to $34.08.

In comparison, the Consumer Price Index has gone up 16.8 percent since 1991.